How We Design

The Water Garden Collection

While I find ideas for my textile designs from many sources, travel definitely opens my eyes to new colors, textures and patterns. I had visited Monet's home and garden at Giverny, just outside of Paris, and found it to be even more inspiring then I could have imagined. Monet lived there from 1883 until his death in 1926. During that time he not only created some of art's greatest masterpieces, but also immersed himself in planting a world-class garden, complete with a water lily pond that served as inspiration for his renowned paintings.

He combined Japanese inspired elements throughout his home and garden, including a wooden bridge covered in wisteria. The glorious, nasturtium-covered gravel walkway to the water garden was called the Grande Allée and our fabric mimics that pathway's surface.

The pond and its surrounding vegetation served as a guide for the color range. In contrast to the sunnier colorful main garden, the pond is actually cool and dark, with reflections of the clouds and nearby trees. It was obvious, then that the color line for the collection should contain darker blues, greens and, of course, violet, in honor of the wisteria flower itself.

The vine pattern was put into repeat and minimal corrections were made.

Together, Grande Allée and Wisteria remind me every day of the magical hours I spent at Monet's water garden.